Golden Migration

516 ARTS presented Golden Migration, a special collaborative site project for DECADE, celebrating the 10th anniversary of 516 ARTS. Photographic wheatpaste muralist Chip Thomas (aka jetsonorama) and choreographer/dancer Lisa Nevada were invited to team up and explore working together in new ways, and the result is Golden Migration, a multi-layered project at the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge focusing on climate change, the environment and community engagement. The public was invited to free performances October 15, 16, 22 & 23 out on the land at Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge, a unique, federally-recognized, urban refuge at the southern end of Albuquerque's South Valley.

Lisa Nevada is compelled to bring dance out of the theater and into non-traditional settings. Her site-specific piece Golden Migration was a series of public performances featuring 12 dancers that took place in the fields and Bosque of Valle de Oro. Participants were led by Dance Guides, to walk and journey through the enchanting landscape of Valle de Oro and were met with a series of dance performances along the way. Each dance is informed and crafted from research, observations and first-hand experiences of dancing at Valle de Oro, collected over the course of the four seasons. Dancers: Mercedes Arechiga, Dalila Baied, Nicole Corpion, Lynne Davis, Miles Firkins, Brian Gallegos, Marcie Hromas, Kaitlin Innis, Romy Keegan, Kelsey Paschich, Elysia Pope and Monika Skiba.

Nevada’s research and observations of the environment were complemented by Chip Thomas’ focus on human interaction with nature, specifically in relation to bird migration, taking into consideration Valle de Oro's origin as a wetlands preserve. Together through Nevada’s choreography and Thomas’ photographic murals of her dancers on the concrete barn at Valle de Oro, Golden Migration posed questions about how we nurture the Earth, ourselves and one another at this pivotal time. This project encouraged audiences to think about how we can engage people in the topic of climate change to spark awareness, conversation and action. The mural is visible from I-25 and can be explored up close by going for a walk at Valle de Oro. It is on view October 15 – January 7, concurrently with a related Chip Thomas mural on the façade of 516 ARTS.

Made possible with special support from the Kurz Foundation, New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities and Friends of Valle de Oro. Special thanks to the Historic District Improvement Company

516 ARTS is a nonprofit contemporary art museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico